In the last few years my expectations as a shopper have changed. From players like Amazon and Ebay I have come to expect a seamless and integrated experience, and I frustratingly note that this doesn’t yet translate to my shopping experience offline.

Products I find online I cannot find in-store and a friendly Target employee explains to me that’s cos they are two different cost centres and hold different stock. Its so happens I understand that, but I really don’t care. I want an omni-channel experience. I want to know that the prior research I do for the perfect night cream doesn’t go to waste the moment I walk into Woolies, only to find I have to start again based on what’s on the shelf here. Everytime I get an email from Woolies I wonder why they still target me with me Sprite on-special even though I have never bought that in my life, and whenever I take my 5 year old shopping I wish there was some sort of in-store game, maybe with Augmented Reality, to keep her entertained, and 9 out of 10 times, when the queue in my local Woolies winds through the entire store I wonder why I cannot scan my own products in the aisle so that when I am ready to go I just need to swipe my card and off I go.

Before you decide to enter into the social media arena for your brand, you first need to reach internal agreement about who is going to ‘own’ it. It’s highly likely there will be several departments in your company, who all feel that social media belongs to them. In fact, they may all have already started their own initiatives, without consulting each other.

Your SEO strategy can no longer be seen as separate from your social strategy. They are closely interlinked and your ability to create content that people can participate in, and the level of engagement of your audience will be game changers for your success.

For all the big brands out there who have been struggling to come up with a meaningful ROI on the Earned Media component of their facebook pages, here is a huge leap forward. You will now be able to see who your influencers are...

Everywhere I look I am reading articles, whitepapers and blog posts about this million dollar question, what is the value of a Facebook Fan?. The only thing all these sources have in common is that there is no conclusive answer.